| The BenefitsLink Newsletter - Welfare Plans Edition |  |
April 23, 2001
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HMO Aims To Slash Errors, Hassles With E-Prescriptions
Excerpt: "Joining the movement to bring doctors into the high-tech age, Tufts Health Plan will give 200 of its physicians hand-held computers on which to write and transmit prescriptions - a program the health plan hopes will eliminate handwriting errors, lost orders, and other pharmacy hassles." (Boston Globe)
Health Care Industry Braces For Privacy Regs
Excerpt: "Now on notice from the White House, health care and related industries are bracing to meet daunting new privacy regulations and are clinging to the hope that upcoming security rules will help them cope. Government's quest for all-electronic medical records kicked into high gear this week, thanks to an unexpected decision by the Bush administration to move ahead on Clinton-crafted Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) privacy regulations." (InfoWorld.com)
Nova Southeastern University Law Center Launches Web Site of New Online Health Law Master's Degree
Excerpt: "It is the first online master's degree in health law offered by an accredited school." (Business Wire via Excite News)
Group Legal Plans Struggle To Balance Need and Cost
Excerpt: "If need were the only consideration, group legal plans would cover not only services such as drawing up a will and estate-planning advice, but also those addressing dilemmas such as contested divorces and child-support disputes that threaten employees' financial and emotional well-being. However, cost factors weigh heavily on sponsorship of the mostly voluntary, employee-paid benefit." (CareerJournal.com)
Expensive Pep Talks Aren't Always the Answer
Excerpt: "Folks, effort alone isn't the answer. Trying hard is overblown. Motivating employees won't hardwire them to the corporate core -- especially since they've probably already figured out that job security is a thing of the past. Wave after wave of mergers, downsizings and restructurings haven't helped much on the loyalty front." (CareerJournal.com)
The Cost and Incidence of Referral, Hiring, and Retention Bonuses
Excerpt: "Signing and other bonuses can be important staffing tools. Employment Cost Index data show that the overall cost of these plans is relatively small." (Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor)
Four Years of Rising Health Care Premiums Putting Pressure on OPM to Cut Costs
Excerpt: "Premiums in the federal employee health care program have increased for four straight years. This year's increase -- an average of 10.5 percent -- prompted numerous complaints from employees and retirees about their rising health care costs." (Washington Post)
Union Effects on Health Insurance Provision and Coverage in the United States
Link to a Working Paper available for downloading for $5 from the National Bureau of Economic Research. (Thomas C. Buchmueller, John DiNardo)
Following the Money: Pharmaceutical Pricing, Utilization and Costs
Real Audio clips of conference held April 20, 2001. (Alliance for Health Reform)
President Bush's First 100 Days In Office: a Consumer View
Excerpt: "We are seriously concerned about the President's decisions on several issues of great importance to consumers, including energy policy, health care, financial services, and telecommunications. Many of the Bush Administration's actions in these areas have favored business interests at the expense of consumers:" (Consumers Union press release)
Commentary: the Blind Men & the Hippo
Excerpt: "Many of us probably feel that coming to grips with HIPAA is a lot like being one of those blind men trying to describe an elephant.... The species and size may differ, but the hippo, like the elephant, is big, wild, and unknown--a creature to be approached with care and with a degree of risk-assessment beforehand. And the same lessons from the fable of the elephant, I would argue, apply to the hippo." (HIPAAdvisory.com)
Legislation To Delay HIPAA Rules Expected In Two Weeks
Excerpt: "The Blue Cross/Blue Shield Association [on April 19] said it expects members of Congress to introduce legislation in the next two weeks that would ensure that regulations designed to simplify health care are delayed. BC/BS, along with the American Medical Association and the American Public Human Services Association, is calling for Congress to delay the simplification regulations because they are more costly and burdensome than HHS had anticipated ..." (HIPAAdvisory.com)
Life Insurance Policies Add Long-Term Care
Excerpt: "Long-term care insurance is growing ever more complex. As the population ages, larger numbers of people are buying coverage. Meanwhile, the industry hopes to reach younger, more affluent buyers by combining long-term care (LTC) with life insurance." (Washington Post)
Long Term Care Boom Brings Penn Treaty To Financial Brink
Excerpt: "Pennsylvania insurance regulators may be forced to step in and take control of Penn Treaty American Corp. if the Allentown insurer can't bolster its dangerously low statutory surplus account, a crisis sparked by the company's faster-than-expected growth in sales of long term care insurance policies." (insure.com)
The National Compensation Survey: Compensation Statistics for the 21st Century
Excerpt: "For the first time, the Bureau of Labor Statistics will provide interrelated statistics on wage levels, benefit costs, rates of change in employer costs for compensation, benefit plan incidence, and detailed benefit provisions." (Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings (Post Yours!)
| Enrolled Actuary | for Chicago Suburban Pension Firm in IL |
| Benefits Consultant | for Plante & Moran, LLP in MI |
| Benefits Specialist | for Prudential in NJ |
| Benefit Consultant Trainee | for National Benefit Consulting and Actuarial Firm in CO |
| Pension Actuary | for JAK in ALL STATES |
| Compliance Consultant | for The Segal Company in NY |
| Plan Services Consultant (JO#236) | for Financial Services Company in IN in IN |
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